Supporting Fluency
Instruction in Your Classroom
Cathleen A. Geraghty, Ph.D.
[email protected]
What is Fluency?
 It
is not enough to read the words
accurately.
 The student should be able to read
smoothly and effortlessly with appropriate
rate and phrasing
 Automaticity
Automaticity
 Is
quick, accurate recognition of letters
and words
 Frees cognitive resources to process
meaning
 When automaticity is achieved it allows
the student to spend more time focusing
on the meaning of the text
Recommended Reading Rates  Recommended
reading rates (Fuchs &
Fuchs, 2000: Good et al., 2001)
Grade
Average Rate
Danger Rate
Grade 1, May
Grade 2, Dec
Grade 2, May
Grade 3, Dec
Grade 3, May
60
75
100
120
135
40
50
60
70
80
More on Reading Rates
 There
is a point of diminishing returns
 Currently, research studies have not supported
reasons for pushing students to read much
faster than 130 words per minute aloud.
Many good 4th and 5th readers begin reading faster
than that, there does not seems to be higher benefit
(O’Connor, 2006)
 Good comprehension rates have been shown in 4th
and 5th grade students reading 100 words per
minute
 Fluency and Comprehension
 Students
who can read words accurately
in context have good comprehension
 Students who can read words accurately
and quickly have even better
comprehension (Rupley, Willson, &
Nichols, 1998)
 There is a correlation in the range of .6
to .9
Fluency and Vocabulary
 Good
readers are exposed to anywhere
from two to ten times as many words as
poor readers (Adams, 1990)
 Less exposure is negatively correlated
with vocabulary development (Nagy,
Anderson, Henderson, 1985)
Fluency Acquisition
 Decoding
practice is not enough (Torgesen,
Rsahotte, & Wagner, 1997)
 Students who learn words out of context do not
show consistent improvements in fluency or
comprehension (Fleischer, Jenkins, and Pany,
1979)
 The only time students consistently generalized
instruction to actual reading was when they were
taught words in context (Levy, Abello, & Lysynchuk,
1997)
Measuring Fluency
Calculating WPM
Calculating WPM
 Have
the student read 3 passages, each
for one minute
 Use the median score
Selecting Passages
 The
3 passages need to have the same
text level
 They cannot be text the student has
already read before
 If you do not have access to standardized
passages, try and pick ones that do not
have complicated names
Instructional Level
Calculating Accuracy
At Which Level do you Assess
 When
determining which materials to use
with the student, use instructional level
 When determining their fluency rate (as
indicated by the benchmarks), use grade
level material
What About Errors?
 There
are those students who can read
fast, but make many errors
 Those students are considered to still be
in the acquisition phase
 Students who have slower reading rates,
but make few errors (independent or
instructional level) are considered to be in
the fluent phase
Acquisition Phase
 These
students still need more direct
decoding and comprehension instruction
 They are still at the skill deficit phase and
need the more explicit instruction in order
to reach the fluent stage
Fluent Phase
 These
students have the fundamentals,
but need more practice
 The more text they are exposed to the
better
How to Determine
 If
the student makes more than 8-10 errors
during one minute of reading he/she is probably
in the acquisition phase
 The student also needs to be not too far into the
danger range (recommended reading rates), in
order to be in the fluent phase
 No more than about 10 words under the upper limit
Activities to Increase Fluency
 Repeated
 Reading
Repeated Reading is an effective strategy to
increase fluency as long as corrective feedback is
given
 Teacher
Moderated Partner Reading
This model of peer tutoring requires that teachers
monitor and scaffold based on the students’ needs
 It also includes a retell portion so that
comprehension can be checked
 Repeated Reading
     The teacher has the student read aloud from a book at
his/her instructional level
When the student has read the page through once, he/
she returns to the top of the page and reads the page 2
more times
Students are provided with corrective feedback on any
errors made
The student is provided with any definition or word
clarification that he/she requests
 The teacher should also periodically check This is very beneficial if done 3 times per week for 15
minutes (takes most of the school year - 20 weeks)
Repeated Reading
 Repeated
Reading is more effective for
those students in the acquisition phase
 Those
students need more practice and
reading the same page 3 times give that
practice
 Continuous reading aloud to a teacher for the
same amount of time is more beneficial for
students in the fluent stage
Repeated Reading
 This
is a beneficial instructional technique
for improving reading; however, it is labor
intensive
 Partner Reading allows the same
opportunities for reading
What is Partner Reading
 A classwide
peer tutoring activity to
increase fluency
 All students work in pairs several
times each week for fluency
practice
Purpose of Partner Reading
 To
develop important beginning reading
skills for young children
 To provide teachers with a practical and
effective means of meeting early
literacy needs in general education
classrooms
Important Features of Partner
Reading
 Reciprocal
roles (Coaches and Readers)
 Structured activities
 Individualized
 More time engaged on task  Includes all students
 Opportunities for success for all students  Encourages positive peer interactions
 Practical AND effective
 Opportunities to monitor student progress
Overall Structure of Partner Reading
 Teacher-led
practice
 Partner activities conducted in pairs
 Teacher monitoring
 Teams and reward system
Teacher-Led Practice
 When
beginning partner reading, the
teacher models with students how it
should be done, until all the students
understand the roles of each partner
Teacher Monitoring
 Teacher
keeps time and gives directions
to students for moving from activity to
activity.
 During activities, teacher walks around
room, assists students, listens to
students read, listens for fluency, gives
feedback, and awards points for correct
implementation and positive behaviors/
cooperation.
Pairs: Coaches and Readers
  Higher performing readers are paired with lower
performing readers
Coach
-Provides prompts and helps Reader; takes turn reading
 Reader
-Reads and accepts help from Coach; takes turn helping
 Partners remain the same for 4 weeks
Assigning Pairs
   Rank students according to reading performance (initial
fluency level)
Split class in half. Pair top performer of upper half with
top performer of lower half. Pair next-to-top student
from upper half with next-to-top performer of lower half.
Adjust pairs according to social skills and individual
needs.
Sample Pairing Scheme
Higher Performers
(HP)
Lower Performers
(LP)
Pairs
Top HP
Top LP
Pair A
Second-ranked HP
Second-ranked LP
Pair B
Third-ranked HP
Third-ranked LP
Pair C
Fourth-ranked HP
Fourth-ranked LP
Pair D
Fifth-ranked HP
Fifth-ranked LP
Pair E
Sixth-ranked HP
Sixth-ranked LP
Pair F
Handling Absentees
 When
two students are absent, their partners
may be paired with the stronger student
serving as Coach.  Form a triad, but avoid using very low
performers or students with disabilities. The
two higher performers take turns and each
paragraph is still read twice before continuing
PALS Seating/Moving
Arrangement  Assign
partners to adjacent seats for the
4 weeks they are paired.
 If partners do not sit next to each other,
assign a “mover” and a “stayer” for each
pair for the weeks they are partners.
PALS Rules
1. 2. 3. 4. Talk only to your partner and talk only
about PALS.
Keep your voice low.
Cooperate with your partner.
Try your best.
Error Correction
(“Read the words.”--error)
 “Stop.
That word is _____. What word?”
 “Start the line again.”
Error Correction
 Error
is made. Just tell partner the right
word. Partner repeats word and keeps
reading.
 3-second rule: When partner gets stuck
on a word, count silently to three before
telling partner the right word. Partner
repeats words and keeps reading. Partner Reading
 Children’s
literature is used for Partner Reading.
 Partner reading is conducted for 10 minutes
 Coach always models reading first (paragraph
by paragraph) with Partner Reading. Reader
reads first on the second time through.
 Each book is read twice
Partner Reading Steps
 Coach
reads title/page first.
 Reader follows along, then reads same title/
page.
 Coach and reader continue taking turns until
they finish the book.
 Switch roles. Reader reads title/page first, and
Coach reads second. Reader marks 5 points
when finished.
 Coaches/readers listen, correct mistakes, and
praise for four readings of book. Then tell
teacher.
Teacher Role During Partner
Reading     The teacher walks around the room listening for errors
or non book related conversation
At the end of the 10 minutes, the teacher instructs the
students to stop and has the students discuss the story
and provide each other with main points
The students provide a brief description of the story in
their partner reading journal
They also are asked to write down any unfamiliar
vocabulary on post-it notes and the teacher later
provides definitions and examples for the unfamiliar
vocabulary
Selecting Text of Appropriate
Difficulty
 Each
pair may read from DIFFERENT books.
 Select book that higher performing student can
read independently (95% accuracy).
 Identify appropriate books and place in students’
folders (at least one book).
 Books should be brief enough that they can be
read twice during Partner Reading (10 min.)
 Rotate books at least once weekly between pairs,
so they are exposed to a variety of books.
Scheduling Tips
 Once
up and running, try to devote about 30
minutes to partner reading three times weekly
 Schedule partner reading during regular reading
periods at the same time and days each week
 Do not sacrifice recess, lunch, or other fun
activities for partner reading